I love to be outside on a sunny day with children happily romping around the playground.  They engage in friendly competition, work well with a team, and put their hearts into the game.

We all hope for things. We wake up every morning with some hope or expectation for the day. We give little attention to our dreams until things stop going the way we want. What do we do with ruptured expectations? What do students do?

“Now, friends, is that how we want to act?” I cringed when I heard a teacher say this to her misbehaving students recently in the local public library. A current trend in education has relaxed the respectful line between teachers and students, placing them on …

We who work in Christian education—whether teachers, counselors, coaches, aides, or leaders—are engaged in “God-work.” I hadn’t previously thought of my teaching and work in education as being sacred, but I think this is a worthy consideration.

When we’re in the grind of teaching day after day, it can be easy to get stuck in ruts. Here are a few ways you could consider adding variety to the ways you check for student understanding.

I am always on the lookout for teacher tips and tools that help to make a challenging job a little easier. Sometimes these are somewhat unconventional things that even make me chuckle a little at the fact that I use them.

August is here and with it comes a wonderful sense of anticipation, and perhaps a touch or two of fear and dread. All of these feelings are completely normal and can be used constructively if they are channeled and directed to profit our preparations.

Students and teachers alike anticipate the first day of school. It is a day of excitement, nervousness, newness, uncertainty, and expectation. The first day will set the tone for the year. As teachers we want to use this to our advantage and start things off w…

“Welcome to first grade! I’m glad you are in my class!” I look around at the bright-eyed students sitting expectantly at their desks. Most of them are happy to be at school; one or two children may feel a bit apprehensive. I am looking forward to the new year!

Students who step into your classroom this fall have several basic desires and fears. They want to learn; can this teacher teach them? They want to be safe; can they trust this teacher? They want to be appreciated; can this teacher see below their exterior and…

A is for Apple. Of course. Although do you know where the association of teachers and apples comes from?

You’ve said yes. You’ve been handed a key. You have a list of names and a starting date. Now what?

Imagination plays a huge part in shaping a child’s mind. Children don't have to learn to use their imagination.

As I write this, it is one week since the close of my twentieth year as a teacher. I look at this milestone with astonishment, puzzling over where the years have gone. And I wonder how I could possibly write anything to encapsulate twenty years of lesson plans…

Mixing literature with art and drama can be a powerful way for students to remember and apply both the content and underlying meaning of what they have read.

The last song sung. The last good-bye said. The last dismissal bell rung. The last student departed. The teacher returns to the classroom, surveys the emptiness, and listens to the silence. The silence is deeper and lonelier than the normal after school quietn…

It’s eleven o’clock on an ordinary Tuesday. You’re teaching history class; but as you look across your classroom, you’re not sure how much of what you’re saying is sinking in. Sally is staring out the window. Michael is doodling in his notebook. Billy seems to…

Getting students who don’t like to write to do just that can actually be an incredibly easy thing to do—just give them suggestions of topics they enjoy and a few leading sentences to get the gears in their brains moving.
First of all, you’ve got to know your…

You don’t just teach. You inspire. You explain the economics of supply and demand to the fascinated face of a boy who grows up to start a business that flourishes and brings life to his community. You teach the songs and explain the music theory that ignites …

While some teachers feel that it should not be part of our jobs to keep our students’ attention, it certainly is annoying to be teaching and to have students disengaged.  I loved school and usually didn’t find it too hard to pay attention, with one except…